


The New Boyfriend

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, Magic, Post-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 05:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2839712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah’s new boyfriend was definitely <i>weird</i>. The problem was, no one but Toby seemed to notice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Boyfriend

**The New Boyfriend**

Toby _knew_ that his sister’s new boyfriend was weird, even if no one else seemed to notice. Sure, Sarah had had weird boyfriends before – odd, dramatic boyfriends who liked theatre and read obscure books – but no one as weird as the new boyfriend.

For one thing, there was the way he looked. Instead of dressing like everyone else, Sarah’s new boyfriend wore flowing shirts and waistcoats and long sparkly coats, and instead of wearing jeans or trousers, wore tights. _Tight_ tights. Then there was his hair – parts of it were long, parts of it were short, and it all stood on end like someone had given him an electric shock. Finally, Sarah’s new boyfriend had strange eyes – one appeared to be a different colour from the other, giving him an otherwordly stare.

It wasn’t just the way Sarah’s new boyfriend looked, though. He talked and acted differently from anyone else Toby had ever met. Sometimes he talked like someone out of an old play, and his manners were haughty and imperious, especially around Sarah, although she only laughed when her boyfriend got all bossy, and told him that he had no power over her. Sarah’s new boyfriend always scowled when she said that, even when Sarah followed it up with a kiss.

(Kissing! Ugh! Toby was used to seeing his sister kiss her boyfriends, but Sarah and the new boyfriend kissed all the time. They didn’t do it when Mom or Dad were around, but the rest of the time… _ugh_.)

Plus funny things happened around Sarah’s new boyfriend. Ornaments would fall to the ground like someone had knocked them down, even though no one was near them, and sometimes Toby heard footsteps in the rooms nearby, even though they were empty. And sometimes he’d see flickers of movement in the corners of his eye, but when he turned around, there was nothing there, and Toby would hear a faint cackle of laughter so quiet that he wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it.

Yeah, so Sarah’s new boyfriend was definitely _weird._ The problem was, no one else seemed to notice.

Toby’s parents never seemed to see how oddly-dressed Sarah’s new boyfriend was, or commented on his hair – even though when Toby came downstairs with his hair messy, his parents immediately sent him upstairs to brush it, saying that they weren’t raising a young hoodlum. And they talked about how Jay was such a nice young man, with such excellent manners – when Sarah’s boyfriend had to be at least thirty, which was pretty old, and had terrible manners! Toby’s parents couldn’t ever seem to get his name right, either, calling him Jay or Jacob or Jerry, when Toby was pretty sure he’d first introduced himself as _Jareth._

Everyone else treated Jareth the exact same way, except for Sarah, who seemed to be the only one who noticed all the things about Jareth that Toby did. She just didn’t seem to _care_.

It was all bewildering, and completely infuriating.

“Is there a reason why you’re glaring at me?” Jareth asked casually, sounding mildly curious. “The last I checked, I had done nothing to earn your ire.”

Sarah was upstairs getting ready for her date with Jareth. Any minute now she’d rush downstairs full of apologies, and Jareth would only smile and pick on her about her sense of time. Until then, Jareth was waiting in the hall, and Toby was watching him to make sure there was no funny business. Who knew what might happen if Jareth was left alone.

“You’re weird, and no one else even notices,” Toby said accusingly. _And I’m pretty sure I had a weird dream with you in it, once,_ he didn’t add, even though the memory was still strangely vivid, for a dream. Most dreams faded pretty quickly, but Toby still had flashes of memory of the man singing and dancing. There had been funny little creatures in the dream, too. It was a weird dream, and Toby tried not to think about it.

Jareth grinned at Toby’s words, looking amused.

“Is that so?” he asked. “Weird, am I? No one else seems to think so.”

“That’s because you’ve _done_ something to them!” Toby exclaimed. “No one else sees your clothes, or your hair, or the weird things that happen when you’re around! They can’t even get your name right!”

Jareth was definitely looking entertained, now.

“You are an observant one, aren’t you? But then, I suppose there had to be consequences to Sarah’s actions,” he mused. “She may have rescued you, but only in the thirteenth hour. It isn’t really so surprising that you were left a little changed by the experience.”

“What are you talking about?” Toby asked. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“And there is nothing _wrong_ with me, either,” Jareth responded, looking Toby in the eye. “I am precisely what I am supposed to be, no more and no less. Something your sister understands well, even if you do not.”

“Can’t you ever just answer a question?” Toby asked, suspicious and exasperated. “Who are you _really?_ ”

Jareth went still, and for a moment there was nothing human in his face at all, not even a pretence of humanity. The hairs on the back of Toby’s neck stood up, and he took an involuntary step back, his eyes glued to Jareth’s peculiar ones.

“Do you really wish to know?” Jareth asked, and his voice was quiet and full of warning.

Toby hesitated, but –

“Yes,” he said firmly.

Jareth smirked. It wasn’t a nice smirk. Toby had a sudden premonition that he had said exactly the wrong thing, but before he could open his mouth to take it back, Jareth had pulled a crystal out of nowhere and thrown it at Toby’s feet. Toby watched as it shattered, and when he looked up, he wasn’t standing in the front hall anymore.

Small, leering creatures giggled and jeered at him, and Toby took a step back in fright.

“What are _those?_ ” he yelped aloud.

“Goblins,” said a cool voice behind him, and Toby shot forward like a cork out of a bottle with a shriek, whirling to see Jareth standing behind him.

“Where are we? What’s going on?” Toby blurted, feeling terrified.

Jareth spread his arms.

“You are in my kingdom,” he said, “the realm of the goblins. All that you see here, and more, is my domain.”

Toby swallowed.

“Goblins?” he asked in a small voice, his eyes darting to the creatures around him, which were still calling and laughing, and watching him with bright eyes. “Like… like in that book of Sarah’s? The one I’m not supposed to read?”

“The one you stole from her room the last time she was out, because you were curious to see why she would hide it from you?” Jareth suggested. There was no leniency in his voice. “Precisely. I, young Toby, am the Goblin King.”

Toby froze. He’d read _The Labyrinth_ just as Jareth had said, because he was curious to see why Sarah had forbidden him to read the book, and he’d read all about the Goblin King – a powerful Fae who stole children that were wished-away by the unwary or the uncaring. He swallowed again.

“You-you’re the Goblin King?” Toby managed to say, past the quaver in his voice. “But – does Sarah know?”

Jareth smiled in cold amusement.

“Of course she does,” he said. “After all, she beat the Labyrinth when you were only a babe, after she unwittingly wished you away.”

Toby couldn’t believe it.

“ _Sarah_ wouldn’t wish me away!” he protested.

“Not now,” Jareth agreed. “But when she was young, and jealous, and you refused to stop crying when she was left alone to babysit you? I think you’d be surprised to know what your sister was like, back then.”

Toby didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t help wondering: what if Sarah _had_ wished him away? The thought caused a deep lance of hurt to go through him. Sarah had always been there, to play with him and look after him even when his parents didn’t. The thought of her doing something like wishing him away felt like a betrayal. Tears prickled in his eyes.

“If Sarah wished me away, then why aren’t I a goblin, then?” Toby asked, trying to sound as though Jareth’s words hadn’t bothered him.

“I told you, your sister beat the Labyrinth,” said Jareth, in a bored tone. “She won you back before her time was up. She gave up the promise of her dreams to save you.”

“She did?” Toby asked hopefully, some of his sense of betrayal vanishing.

“You should be grateful,” said Jareth, walking over to lounge in a giant chair. “Most children who are wished-away don’t have anyone who cares enough to win them back.” He slung one leg over the arm of the chair and left the other resting on the floor.

Toby stepped closer to him, some of his fear slowly disappearing as neither the goblins nor Jareth tried to do anything to him.

“Do you really love my sister?” Toby asked. Jareth glanced at him.

“With all my heart,” said Jareth. Some people, Toby thought, would have said that with lots of feeling, but Jareth just said it matter-of-factly, like he was reciting a fact.

“You’re not going to do something to me, are you?” Toby asked.

“Unlikely,” said Jareth. “I hardly think Sarah would forgive me for _doing something_ to her beloved little brother.”

“Are you going to marry her?” Toby wanted to know.

“Eventually,” said Jareth. He smiled like a self-satisfied cat. “No matter what your sister believes, it is inevitable.”

“You think a lot of yourself, huh?” said Toby thoughtfully.

“Who else would think anything of me if I did not think something of myself?” Jareth asked.

Toby took a moment to think that one through.

“I guess that makes sense,” he said. He looked around. “So this is where you live?”

“It is.”

“Does Sarah ever come here?” Toby asked.

“Upon occasion.” Jareth was leaning right back in his chair, staring at the ceiling like the conversation was boring him.

Toby felt awkward.

“I’m sorry I said you were weird,” he said apologetically.

“Hmm.” Jareth glanced at him. “Are you, now?”

“Yeah,” said Toby. “I get why most people can’t know the truth about you. They’d freak out.”

“Well, at least you’ve worked _that_ out.” Jareth swung his leg down so that both feet were on the floor, and stood up. “Come along, imp. You sister will be ready at any moment.”

Jareth put a hand on Toby’s shoulder, and a second later, they were back in the front hall of Toby’s house.

“I wish I could do that,” Toby said, impressed in spite of himself.

Jareth smiled wickedly.

“Unfortunately, it is not a mortal skill,” he said, just as Sarah hurried onto the landing and down the stairs.

“Jareth, I’m so sorry I’m running late,” she said, rushing over to Jareth in a swirl of skirts to kiss him. Jareth kissed her back. Toby rolled his eyes.

“I’m right here, you know,” he said reproachfully. They ignored him.

“It’s fine, precious thing,” said Jareth, when he and Sarah had finished kissing. “It gave me time to talk with your young brother, here.”

“Oh?” Sarah gave Toby a worried look, and glanced back at Jareth. “What about?”

“It seems that his time spent in my realm gifted him with a form of True Sight,” said Jareth. Toby could practically hear the capital letters. “He sees things as they truly are, including myself.”

“Oh.” Sarah’s eyes widened. “You mean–”

“I explained a few things to him,” said Jareth.

“It’s okay,” said Toby. “I know you didn’t mean to wish me away to the goblins.”

Sarah looked like she was going to cry, which was exactly the opposite of what Toby had been trying to achieve. Toby was never going to understand grown-ups, not ever.

“Oh, _Toby_ ,” Sarah said, reaching out to pull him into a vanilla-scented hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Toby leaned into the hug.

“It’s okay,” he repeated. “You rescued me, and that’s what matters, right?”

Sarah drew back to smile at him, although the smile was a bit watery.

“That’s right,” she said.

“Come, precious,” said Jareth. “We must go, or we will be late. I hardly intend to re-order time for something of as little magnitude as a dinner date.”

That seemed to cheer Sarah up.

“Liar,” she told Jareth with a smile, and went swirling past him to the door. Jareth watched her go outside with an appreciative look.

“Hey, Jareth?”

Jareth looked down at Toby.

“Yes?”

“If you marry my sister, she’s going to be Queen of the Goblins, right?” Toby questioned.

“Correct,” said Jareth.

“So… shouldn’t she be a fairy or something, if she’s going to be Queen of the Goblins?”

Jareth only smiled, and shut the front door behind him.

Toby sighed in frustration.

“I hate grown-ups,” he muttered. “They never tell you anything.”

Still, Toby thought, maybe Jareth wasn’t so bad as Toby had thought, after all. At least he had a good reason for being weird.


End file.
